Planet Thai in Lexington, Kentucky

On Saturday evening, November 29th, we took a little break from caring for our little goon Olivia Rose to have a dinner date.  We were both in the mood for Thai food because we also needed a break in that respect - from all the Thanksgiving food.

We actually first set our sights on Mai Thai Cafe, but they were closed for the weekend.

Our next try was Planet Thai, and we were pretty pleased overall.  I'd recommend it to anyone looking for solid Thai food in Lexington.

Our rating is 3.5 stars:

2.5 out of 3 for the food - nothing gourmet, but the flavors were fantastic.  We shared Chicken Pad Thai (first visit so we wanted to try this staple), Tom Yum soup and Salad Rolls (uncooked vegetable spring rolls with a delicious peanut sauce).  We loved all of it.  And the portions were good too.  Even though we shared these items, we had enough Pad Thai and soup to take home and enjoy for lunch the next day.

0.5 out of 1 for service - not particularly attentive to things like water refills, nor available for other requests.  It was only moderately busy so they should've visited our table more often.  Some staff were friendly and others disinterested.

0.5 out of 1 for cleanliness and overall atmosphere - bathrooms, decor, etc. all definitely left a lot to be desired, but it was still obviously a cut above eating in a fast food restaurant.

In summary, I might recommend ordering carry-out from Planet Thai more than I would dining in.  The food is excellent but you won't miss much by eating it at home.

Salad Rolls.  I'd rate these about 8/10.  Very good and the peanut sauce was amazing.  Not sure what the other sauce was, and it was pretty unremarkable anyway.

Tom Yum soup.  8/10 for this too.  Satisfied our craving for vegetables and the broth was so interesting.  I actually had never tried this before, and I might like it even more than pho, which is a personal favorite.

Chicken Pad Thai.  8/10.  Maybe not the absolute best I've ever had, but certainly in my top 5.  Try it, you'll like it!

Olivia Rose's Homemade Chili!

Sunday, November 23rd, 2014 was a very significant day for us.  We adopted a beautiful 9-week-old German shepherd/lab mix and named her Olivia Rose.  So I'll always remember making this chili, because it was in the crock pot when we found her.

The basic recipe was as follows:

ADD THESE TO THE CROCK POT:
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can chili hot beans
Half of a large yellow onion, diced
One bell pepper (any color), diced
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1-2 jalapenos, depending on your heat tolerance
Chili powder, to taste
Paprika, to taste
Cinnamon, to taste
Cumin, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Sea salt, to taste

SET CROCK POT TO HIGH.  COOK AT LEAST 4 HOURS.

Brown one pound of ground turkey.  Add that to the mix.  Cook another 1-2 hours.

Chop up 1 zucchini and some carrots (I used 2 large handfuls of baby carrots).  Add those and cook 30-60 more minutes.

Here are some pictures!

Just the tomato ingredients, onion and bell pepper so far.

Chopping a jalapeno with a Wusthof chef's knife.

After adding the jalapeno and all the spices!  Time to cook for a few hours.

After 4-5 hours, add the browned ground turkey!  I added chili powder to the turkey as well.

After another hour or two, add the zucchini and carrots.

30-60 more minutes and it's done.  So good.

Eiderdown in Louisville, Kentucky

November 16th was my papa's 65th birthday, and I took him to Eiderdown.  They have a short menu, but the recipes are very creative and always beautifully executed.  The alcohol selection is fantastic as well.  We visited on a late Sunday afternoon and had the place largely to ourselves.  Here are four pictures of my food and drinks.  I was bugging my dad enough with my excessive phone use, so I didn't photograph what he ate.

Off Color Scurry.  I'd rate it 8/10.

Another view of the Off Color Scurry.

Viking's Wurst.  "Pork sausage en croute, fried egg, cherry-almond granola, maple gastrique."

Just incredibly good.  Every element was perfect.  10/10.

Lindeman's Framboise, always nice as a dessert beer.  9/10.